Ambivalence:FirstNationalBastard: MaudlinMutantMollusk: FirstNationalBastard: See what happens when people start watching British dramas?

I blame Monty Python

Does British comedy transfer to the states as well as the drama does?

Sure, there's stuff like Python that's pretty much universal, but do other British comedies make it across as well? I mean, even The Office had to be Americanized.

/then dragged out for about 6 years too long, as is the American way.

It depends. Geeks like british comedy. Just look at IT Crowd, Doctor Who (it's funny), spacers.

Why haven't we gotten a remake of Doctor Who yet? Could connect to a whole new audience with Shia LaBeouf as the Doctor, Rihanna as a spunky, sorta-goth chick as his new companion and the wise-cracking TARDIS embodied by a holographic Dane Cook. Bonus cameo by Jack Black as every single Dalek.

hubiestubert:Oddly enough, Americans have preserved in some isolated communities, a more "true" British dialect than the current wash of BBC English and urban dialects.

Even as English has changed here, influenced by waves of immigration, changed in the Caribbean, changed in Australia, English was doing the same thing in England as well. Modern dialects are NOT the same as they were, and English is a language that is wonderfully adaptive, in its ability to absorb linguistic elements from languages it's near. The ability to absorb loan words, to still maintain structures, and in some ways, the "backwoods" dialects of America, have preserved many older elements of English.

Mass communication has done some interesting things with transmission of linguistic elements. Cultures aren't preserving changes for as long, and there is an odd bit of homogenization between cultures, including between sub-cultures across nations. It's a neat time to be a linguist. Even with the spread of film and even radio, there was a rise for a sort of "standard" dialect. BBC Standard, American Standard, and others, as a sort of "official" dialect, and entirely artificial, as opposed to the regionals, and the rise of folks aping the dialects that they heard on radio and in films, it sort of slowed linguistic drift, but now that we have a wider range of dialects spread quickly with mass communication, and less than official channels where just about anyone can upload videos, music and more, we get to see a lot more diversity, and oddly enough, folks aping one another.

I blame whatever has happened to me on working with Indians for the past 8 years. When you are around people who keep repeating the same phrases, it rubs off. Actual British people I have worked with were all in the Banking industry and I did not get along with them very well.

xcv:Why haven't we gotten a remake of Doctor Who yet? Could connect to a whole new audience with Shia LaBeouf as the Doctor, Rihanna as a spunky, sorta-goth chick as his new companion and the wise-cracking TARDIS embodied by a holographic Dane Cook. Bonus cameo by Jack Black as every single Dalek.

Rufus Lee King:I'm sure this is already known, but a person was, in the days of merrie olde England, not supposed to use the adjective "bloody", as it invoked the blood of Christ, which was considered blasphemy.

My boss from my last job was British. He and I had so much fun together when it came to cultural differences. The one we'd argue the most about was the gesture for "two", b/c I'd put up two fingers while I was talking reflexively, and of course, in Britain, it's a way of flipping someone off. He's always bring it up when I did it, and I'd always tell him "when in Rome". I hated that job, but he was the best boss I've ever had.

Ambivalence: I have to admit. They have better swear words. Half the time you call someone a twat and they don't know to be offended by it. LOL!

I love the resurgence of this word...when I was a kid in the 1970's, it rhymed with "cot" and sounded filthy and offensive, right up there with the "C-word." But once I heard Ricky Gervaise pronounce it as rhyming with "cat" it became harmless and fun.

I just submitted a comment that was almost entirely swear words, and it didn't appear. Does Fark have some kind of "profanity overload trip" built in? (or "circuit breaker" as we would call it in the UK)

xria:alienated: FirstNationalBastard: Does British comedy transfer to the states as well as the drama does?

Aye, it does. Check out- Shameless- not, not the US version, the real one. Ideal . Spaced . Red Dwarf. The IT crowd has been mentioned. Only Fools and Horses . Porridge might, but its early / mid 70's .Vicar of Dibley. Absolutely Fabulous .I could go on, but you get the point, i hope.Cheers

I think Cheers was American originally. You also forgot Blackadder and Fawlty Towers.

Obviously English is going to merge a lot more - there are plenty of Americanisms coming the other way as well of course, and no doubt as India/China grow and assuming they carry on using English for business then sooner or later lots more words from there will transfer across (British English already has quite a number of words derived from links with India, but most are old enough transfers for most people not to know their origins).

Fawlty Towers gets a nod from the hotel & restaurant folks, but everyone else I've shown it to just didn't seem to get it.

Some of my other favorites have been Are You Being Served (and I liked Grace and Favour too, but I guess I'm weird), Red Dwarf, The IT Crowd, Blackadder, Vicar of Dibley, etc. I also find the British versions of Being Human and The Office much better than the American ones. Personally, I've never liked AbFab or Doctor Who, but to each his own.

Simon Pegg has done a bit on the film front as well. I know people who hate "British shows" but love Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Sure, they're a bit Americanised, but they've still got that British background & humor that just makes Americans go "WTF did he say?"

I have to admit... "Britishisms" have crept into my speech, probably from all the British shows over the years. Strangely enough, it's sneaking into my spelling as well. I constantly have to go back to get rid of extra u's, check for the s/z switches (recognised, etc), et al.

Does this mean Niall Ferguson, Piers Morgan, Tina Brown, Simon Cowell, and Gordon Ramsay will be out of work, as Americans lose their fascination with the Brit-speak and realize these twats are just frothing out utter rubbish?

I blame my Canuck mother and grandparents, who typically rattled off "bloody", "arse", "knackered" and other sorts of phrases that made some of my friends scratch their heads in confusion. And Monty Python....